Tag: Brock Osweiler

So this section is going explain what the needs of the Cardinals are and what their cap situation is. What free agents too target and what players need to be resigned.

One other note. I forgot to mention one more concern I had with the Steve Wilks hire. It is more likely than not that the team will be switching to a 4-3 defense. This team is not really built for the change. When you look at their cornerstone piece on the front seven, Chandler Jones, he is a guy who doesn’t put his hands on the ground. Well see though, there are some young pieces on the front seven who could be able to adapt. I think that it will be interesting to what they do with Hassan Reddick in a 4-3. I think he could fit in a Will LB role.

Team Needs:

QB: Obviously, no QBs on the roster. Carson Palmer retired. To say its a dire statement is an understatement.

WR: Even if Larry Fitzgerald doesn’t retire this is a huge position of need. They need to think about finding a new number 1 for when Fitzgerald retires plus they need to improve the outside WR situation.

OL: The line as a whole could be upgraded. The injuries piled up and the team has older veterans still on large contracts. Major changes are coming to the o-line.

CB: Tramon Williams emerged in the second half as a nice pairing opposite Patrick Peterson. He is a free agent. Justin Bethel too.

LB: Karlos Dansby is a free agent. Another run down linebacker could be added.

TE Depth: Overpaying for Jermaine Gresham was not the best idea. Ricky Seal-Jones could be a nice pass catching option. But they could use a blocking TE.

DL Depth: The DL still hasn’t replaced Calais Campbell and they have nice depth but switching to a 4-3 could require another player specifically in the 5 tech.

Cap Situation and Cap Casualties

Right now given Palmer’s retirement and with a projected cap of around $178,000,000 there should be around $23,000,000.

In order to deal with all of the needs including the quarterback some space is going to be cleared. This is not a lot of cap considering they need a QB. Look at what Jimmy G just received from San Francisco $137.5 mil over 5 years. The Niners just set the bar for Kirk Cousins. The Cardinals are going to have to be able to field a team next year and given the number of holes if they have to gut the team to sign Cousins there is going to be nothing left. There are going to have to be cuts just to get a team on the field. Whats better winning 6-8 games with a bridge QB and a young QB or winning 6-8 games with Kirk Cousins with no money or talent around him. You saw it in Washington. Cousins is a good QB but he isn’t good enough to carry a game by himself. Same goes for Nick Foles. There has been a lot of speculation of whether or not the Cardinals should pursue him. The Eagles are going to have to be given an offer they can’t refuse because of the security he gives them in case Carson Wentz isn’t fully healthy. Not only is the draft capital going to cost a lot, but if he is great you need to resign him. He is not a bridge QB; he still is young enough to build a franchise around, which leads us back to, Jimmy G just got 137.5 million over 5 years. If he stinks, more than likely you didn’t draft a young QB, then we are back to square one and the team is going to need a QB.

That’s my rant for today lets look at few guys I would cut from the roster.

Adrian Peterson RB: This one is obvious. David Johnson is coming back and A.P. isn’t going to want to be a backup. Cap Savings: 2.88 million

Josh Mauro DT: Even though I said they could use some depth on the d-line, the production isn’t worth the cap hit. There are other players who could be found for cheap on the open market. Cap Savings: 2.8 million

Jared Veldheer OT: Moved to RT this season but moved back to LT when D.J. Humphries got hurt. He missed the last 3 weeks to injury as well. Owed over 10 million next season and after coming off of one of his worst season yet it seems like its time to move on. Cap Savings: 6.9 million

Mike Iupati OG: Another lineman with a big cap number. Missed most of the season. The line in general is going to need to be completely made over. Cap Savings: 6.3 Million

I want to quickly talk about Tyrann Mathieu really quickly. I thinking keeping him on the roster is the better decision and I know there is a lot of speculation of whether the team will cut him. Certainly I would ask for a pay cut, but I would not get rid of him if he refuses. You could trade him but not many teams are going to be willing to give up picks for someone with the contract that he has. We are also have this discussion because for some reason, the front office thought it was a good idea to make his 2019 salary guaranteed at the start of the 2018 league year. That is just plain silly. He is too versatile and important to your defense to get rid of him. Plus the Cardinals already need a number 2 corner. The team has so many pressing needs lets not make the secondary an even bigger one.

About 42 million in cap space.

Free Agency:

First lets look at the Cardinals free agents for this year and who I would resign.

PLAYER (28)

POS.

STATUS

Resign Yes or No

Justin Bethel

CB

UFA

No

Tyvon Branch

SS

UFA

No

Drew Stanton

QB

UFA

No

Karlos Dansby

ILB

UFA

No

Tramon Williams

CB

UFA

Yes

Jaron Brown

WR

UFA

No

Frostee Rucker

DT

UFA

No

Troy Niklas

TE

UFA

No

Khalif Barnes

LT

UFA

No

Alex Boone

G

UFA

Yes

Blaine Gabbert

QB

UFA

No

Josh Bynes

OLB

UFA

Yes

Earl Watford

RT

UFA

No

Matt Barkley

QB

UFA

No

Aaron Brewer

LS

UFA

No

Kareem Martin

OLB

UFA

No

John Brown

WR

UFA

Yes

Brittan Golden

WR

UFA

No

Kerwynn Williams

RB

UFA

No

John Wetzel

RT

ERFA

Yes

Olsen Pierre

DT

ERFA

Yes

Vinston Painter

RT

ERFA

No

Xavier Williams

DT

RFA

Yes

Ifeanyi Momah

TE

ERFA

No

C.J. Goodwin

S

ERFA

No

Elijhaa Penny

RB

ERFA

Yes

Daniel Munyer

C

ERFA

No

Olsen Pierre and Xavier Williams: are the two more key guys that I would target. I think they are nice pieces that will contribute on the defensive line. I think they will be cheap to bring back. Pierre is a exclusive rights free agent so he will be back. Williams is a restricted free agent and I would give him a tender and try to sign him to a long term deal. I think he can be the anchor for the defense in the future. Pierre is cheap; Williams on a long term deal might fetch 3-4 million per year. The kid is worth it and wouldn’t be surprised if it is more.

I say bring back John Brown. I’m not a fan of his; he definitely was the product of good QB play (2015 Carson Palmer). That being said he brings good speed and can stretch the field. Still will need to either a free agent or draft a WR or two. If he costs more than 4 million a year though I’m out.

Tramon Williams: He established himself last year and I want that to continue. Even at 34 he proves to be very useful. Try to keep his deal at just a one year deal for around 3-4 million.

Alex Boone: even though he was hurt for part of the year and probably had the worst season of his career; Iupati has been cut and a veteran could be needed. Getting a full training camp with the team will help too. Another 1 year 1- 1.5 million dollar deal should bring him back.

Its very short and sweet. A couple of QBs and a blocking TE. Bradford is the perfect bridge even though he scares the crap out of me because of the injury history. You can easily sign him in my opinion to a cap friendly deal that is incentive laden something in the range of 10-12 in base with incentives to push it to 15-17 million. That’s almost half of Kurt Cousins. It can be for one year too with an option for a second year. Osweiler can come in as a backup plan in case Bradford falls apart. He is a terrible QB but is familiar with Mike Mccoy and could be brought in on the veteran’s minimum. Vigil Green is a good blocking TE that adds value to the team. A two year deal in the 2-2.5 mil per year kind of range sounds reasonable.

Plenty of cap space was created and a team is beginning to take shape with all the moves going into the draft the team will have about 6-8 million in cap space. I spent more than I wanted too and may have to re-evaluate John Brown some more. Its hard to predict what players will get in the open market given how much the cap changes on a year basis and some players getting ridiculously overpaid.